Glanford Park is a football stadium in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England, and the current home of Scunthorpe United. It is the smallest stadium by capacity in the Championship (2009”“10 season). Glanford Park opened in 1988 at a construction cost of £2.5 million, housing a total of 9,088 supporters. It was the first time that an English football club had moved to a new purpose-built stadium in 33 years, since Southend United moved to Roots Hall in 1955.

History Scunthorpe originally played at the Old Showground, which was located towards the centre of the town on the Doncaster Road. After the club relocated, the Old Showground was demolished and replaced by a Safeway supermarket, which was subsequently sold to Sainsbury's in 2004. Glanford Park is located on the outskirts of Scunthorpe, close to the start of the M181 motorway. The name Glanford Park was derived from its funding by the then Glanford Borough Council, before North Lincolnshire became a unitary authority. On its completion, it was the first new Football League stadium in England for 43 years. The stadium was officially opened at the start of the 1988”“89 season by Princess Alexandra. For all but one of its first 17 seasons, the stadium staged fourth tier football before Scunthorpe were promoted to League One in 2005, since when they have appeared in either League One or the second tier Football League Championship. Manchester City visited Glanford Park on 24 January 2010, in the FA Cup Fourth Round. City won the match 4”“2, which saw Robinho score his final goal in English football. The record attendance is 9,077 for a 5”“2 loss against Manchester United in the League Cup on 22 September 2010.

Stands

Scunthorpe Telegraph Stand The Scunthorpe Telegraph (formerly Evening Telegraph) stand is the West side stand, and houses the executive boxes, players' tunnel, team dugouts and home seating. The stand, sometimes referred to as the "ETS" is marketed as being a family stand.

Study United FC Stand now known as Rainham Steel Stand The name of this stand is the most frequently-changing. It is much more commonly known as the "Doncaster Road End" among supporters, or even simpler, the "Donny Road End." This stand is the only terraced stand at Glanford Park, and typically houses the more vocal supporters. It is due to be fitted with seating after the 2009”“10 season due to Football League regulations that standing areas must be made seating following three seasons in the Championship.

Grove Wharf Stand The Grove Wharf Stand (formally Country Chef Stand) is the East stand of the ground, and houses seated home supporters. This stand now also features a can bar and a food outlet.

AMS Stand This stand houses away supporters, with a maximum capacity of 1,678. However extra away seating is often made available for games such as local derbies, by sectioning off an area of the Evening Telegraph Stand. The seats in the away end of the ground were originally sourced from Aston Villa F.C., a football club sharing the same claret and blue colours as Scunthorpe United F.C. but were replaced prior to the 2007”“08 season.

Future development In the Scunthorpe Telegraph on 14 December 2006 it was announced that the club were looking to expand the Doncaster Road End of the stadium. Potential improvements mentioned included a second tier and expansion of the club's restaurant. In announcing the plan for expansion, the club's chairman Steven Wharton acknowledged that they were not currently filling the stadium to capacity on a regular basis, but added that he was preparing for a future situation where a larger capacity could be required. This redevelopment option is currently being assessed, alongside the option of moving to a new stadium. This would be the first major redevelopment of any stand at Glanford Park since its opening, though earlier in 2006 further catering and toilet facilities were provided beneath the Grove Wharf Stand at a cost of £100,000. Under regulations the club must convert the Doncaster Road End to seats if they avoid relegation from the Championship in 2010/11. To try and change this, supporters launched a Keep Scunthorpe Standing campaign. The club revealed revised expansion details in September 2010, with plans to add a three-level building behind the current terrace to include a larger supporters bar, club shop and ticket office. The capacity of the ground would not increase, this is due to the change from a terrace to a seating area.